The Amtrak Pacific Surfliner makes its way down the coast at Torrey Pines State Beach as it heads toward San Diego. States have until October to decide on subsidizing Amtrak. Sean M. Haffey • u-t file photo

The Amtrak Pacific Surfliner makes its way down the coast at Torrey Pines State Beach as it heads toward San Diego. States have until October to decide on subsidizing Amtrak. Sean M. Haffey • u-t file photo

Sacramento 
In a cost-cutting move, the federal government has given states an October deadline to decide whether they want to pick up the cost of subsidizing Amtrak — a decision that could affect the Pacific Surfliner from San Diego to San Luis Obispo.

Paying to subsidize the 350-mile line for 2.7 million passengers a year would cost California about $25 million. The state is in final talks with Amtrak on the issue, with a budget proposal due after negotiations conclude in March.

Pushing the cost of subsidizing Amtrak to the states stems in part from an ongoing effort by Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., who says he is on a “holy jihad to try to get Amtrak’s operations under control.”

California, its budget problems aided by November’s Proposition 30 tax increases, seems to be readying itself to pick up the costs of the line, with local stops in San Diego, Solana Beach and Oceanside.

Former Solana Beach Mayor Joe Kellejian, chairman of the board that oversees the Surfliner rail corridor, said he expects the state to maintain rail services even when the feds pull out. A law signed last year by Gov. Jerry Brown called for as much in creating a state authority to oversee the line.

“There is a lot at stake here,” Kellejian said. “I believe the state understands that the need for transit service, or intercity service, or light rail service, has a lot to do with the future of California.”

Wendell Cox, who served on the Amtrak Reform Council from 1999-2002, said there is no public call to cover the difference between fare box revenues and operating costs for the nation’s intercity passenger rail service.

“There is no justification whatsoever for subsidizing Amtrak,” said Cox, a consultant and former member of the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission. “And taxpayers are being terribly poorly served by their legislators for doing it. This is just unbelievable.”

Cox added that the recurring fight over rail subsidies amounted to a mix of political might and misplaced nostalgia.

“Thank God there wasn’t a lobby for stage coaches when the railroads replaced them,” he said.

Not all states are agreeing to pick up the Amtrak subsidy.

New York officials have proposed earmarking about $44 million for various routes, while Pennsylvania and others say they may trim schedules due to rising costs.

Amtrak subsidies have long been a hotly contested issue. Supporters argue that government dollars to the agency don’t come anywhere near the amounts dedicated to highways and other transportation-related services.

In September, Amtrak’s president and chief executive told a congressional committee that the rail line covers 85 percent of its operating budget with ticket sales and other revenues, bringing the federal subsidy to 15 percent. He noted that last year’s federal operating grant of $466 million was down from a peak of $755 million in 2004.